Improvement in drawers



UNITED STATES PATENTn OFFICE.

OLIVER JENKINS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT `IN DRAWERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 2,690, dated June 22, 1842.I

To all whomV it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER JENKINS, of`

Boston, in the county of Suffolk, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Drawers for Furniture, of which the following description, in connection withfthe accompanying drawings, forms a full and exact specification.

vIn the same I have set forth the nature and principles of my improvement, by which it Inay be distinguished from others of a like character, together with such parts or combinations thereof asI claim and for which I solicit Letters Patent.

The peculiar object of my improvement is to enable a drawer to be moved freely into and out of its case or frame in which it slides without, comparatively speaking, any of that adhesion or binding on its sides or exterior which occurs in most articles of this kind, often to their detriment, and which is owing more or less `to the unequal shrinking or warping of the parts of the wood-work.

A drawer with my improvement added to it may be moved with great ease, even if the hand or force which causes it to operate is applied to any part of its front.

Figure I of the above-mentioned drawings represents a view of the lower side of a drawer constructed according to my improved method'. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the drawer-case, exhibiting the frame 0r bearing upon which the bottom of the drawer rests and moves. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of the drawer and its case, while Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal and vertical section of the same.

The main feature of my invention consists in constructing the lower side of the bottom of the drawer A with a long groove a, Figs. I and 3, in its center, which groove shall extend from the front lof said drawer to its rear, as seen in Fig. 1, and also arranging the case or frame c, upon which the bottom of the sides and front of the drawer rest with a long tongue b, Figs. 2, 3, and 4, in its center, which in transverse section shall correspond to the groove a, and in length shall extend from the front of the drawer-case to its rear, as seen in the drawings. The groove a may be formed in a piece of suitable hard wood or metal B, screwed or otherwise properly afiixed to the lower side of the drawer and extending a short distance in rear of or beyond the back part of the drawer, as seen at d, Figs. I and 4, in order to abut against the rear e'of the drawer-case and thus form a stop to arrest the movement of the drawer. The front of the groove a and tongue b is covered by the front board f of the drawer. The tongue may also be formed of hard Wood or metal screwed or otherwise connected to the drawer-frame. When the drawer is inserted in its case, the tongue b enters the groove a, and as the drawer is moved it is guided with great facility in a rectilinear direction by the tongue and groove. This ar rangement renders side guides to a drawer entirely unnecessary, and by enabling the sides g g, Fig. 3, of the case to be set off an inch, Inore or less, from the sides of the drawer it prevents any shrinkage or swelling of the parts from interrupting the action of the drawer, as well `as any of the unpleasant consequences above mentioned.

Having thus described my invention, I shall claim- Constructing the bottom of the drawer with a groove in its center running from the front to the rear of the same, and the framefor case thereof with a tongue which shall correspond to said groove, as set forth, and which, when the drawer is inserted in the case, shall enter the groove and guide the drawer in its movements to and fro, the whole being arranged substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinabove explained.

In testimony that the foregoing is a true description of my said invention and improvements I have hereto set my signature this 11th day of May, in the year 1842.

OLIVER JENKINS.

IVitnesses: Y

R. I-I. EDDY, IJZRA LINCOLN, J r. 

